BRANFORD MARSALIS

After four decades in the international spotlight, the achievements of saxophonist Branford Marsalis continue to grow. He is an instrumentalist, composer and bandleader to be reckoned with, crossing stylistic boundaries while maintaining an unwavering creative integrity. With three Grammys and a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as a Jazz Master, he is an avatar of contemporary artistic excellence.

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SARAH VAUGHAN INTERNATIONAL JAZZ VOCAL COMPETITION

The divine Sarah Vaughan—Newark’s greatest musical gift to the world—got her start as the winner of a talent contest. NJPAC honors her legacy every year with The Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. Now entering its second decade, “The SASSY Awards” is the only international jazz vocal competition of its kind, open to all genders. At this public performance, you’ll witness the next generation of powerhouse jazz vocalists ready to take their rightful place in the global spotlight. This is the 11th year.

The 5 Finalists: Ekep Nkwelle | Kristin Lash | Allan Harris | Lucía Gutiérrez Rebolloso | Lucy Yeghiazaryan 

The 5 Judges: Regina Carter | Christian McBride | T.S. Monk | Pat Prescott | Maria Schneider

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TONY HIGHTOWER

Singer/Songwriter Tony Hightower is taking up the mantle to be a bridge that ushers R&B audiences into Jazz…Real Jazz. With years of experience as a musical performer and actor with familial roots that place him firmly within the music’s firmament, Atlanta-native Hightower is still just getting started on this benevolent turn in his journey. And he is bringing a lot of young people with him.

His sophomore project, LEGACY, finds Hightower exploring Jazz vocal stylings from a dazzling prism of angles. The 10-song album moves confidently and assuredly from original compositions such as the soulful scat-laced “All to the Good,” the seductive Brazilian bossa nova of “Rendezvous” and the tender carnal Jarreau-esque love beg “I Need You” to swingin’ covers of Earth, Wind & Fire’s classic Skip Scarborough-penned “Can’t Hide Love,” a mean shuffle boogie groove through Al Green’s “Love and Happiness” and a smoldering upright bass accompanied tiptoe through the 1929 Andy Razaf standard “Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good To You” made further famous in 1944 by one of Hightower’s greatest and earliest Jazz vocal heroes, Nat “King” Cole. That one’ll make the women wiggle.

“I didn’t have a choice about doing this music,” Hightower confesses. “My mother, Theresa Hightower, lived her life onstage. She was a fiery and versatile vocal pro by age 16 and had me when she was 19. So, you could say I’ve been performing since the womb.” And though he did not know his father, Ralph Baker, well, the man’s DNA pulsed within his being as Hightower inherited the percussionist’s keen sense of fascinating rhythm, which led to Tony’s first pro gig at age 14 playing drums in the stage band for “The Dinah Washington Story” at the 14th Street Playhouse.

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SNARKY PUPPY

Snarky Puppy is an American instrumental ensemble led by bassist Michael League. Founded in 2004, Snarky Puppy combines a variety of jazz idioms, rock, world music, and funk and has won four Grammy Awards. The once Texan, now New York-based quasi-collective Snarky Puppy has gone from the best-kept secret to one of the most respected names in instrumental music.

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CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE QUARTET

Christian McBride is an American jazz bassist, composer and arranger. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner. This group was the original Joshua Redman touring quartet of the 1990s.

Christian McBride ~ Double Bass

Joshua Redman ~ Saxophone

Brad Mehldau ~ Piano

Brian Blade ~ Drums

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